Ultimate Wingman
by claireeleven
Summary: Richard can't help but meddle in other people's lives. Sometimes it works out. Arizona/Amelia
1. Chapter 1

"Hi, I'm Hurricane Amelia," she began with a slight breathy laugh. "I've been sober for 5 months now but I almost drank again last week. I'd planned a date with my boyfriend and when I showed up he was absolutely wasted and he'd forgotten. We were supposed to be having a fresh start but after that, I realized I need to take care of myself first. I need stability. I need someone who can keep Hurricane Amelia from becoming a category 5 storm."

Finishing with that same breathy laugh, Amelia took her seat again and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone else at the AA meeting, especially Richard. She hadn't planned on speaking at the meeting today. Honestly, when she'd gotten in her car, she wasn't actually sure if she was going to end up here or at the nearest liquor store. She was glad she'd come though. 5 months might not seem like a long time but it felt like an eternity right now.

For the past month, all Richard had been able to think about was Hurricane Amelia. He'd watched her from afar as she steadily avoided Owen. As he finally seemed to get the message. As she moved back in to Meredith's house. As she became stronger. As 5 months sobriety became 6.

It was a month after the meeting when he found himself telling Meredith and Maggie about the surgery he had watched that day. Arizona was doing a selective laser ablation of placental anastomotic vessels in a set of twins with Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Halfway through, the woman had begun to have premature contractions and he was sure that the woman and her babies wouldn't make it. But Arizona had remained calm and managed to save them all and it was as he finished his story that he heard Callie's quiet comment from behind him.

"She's a good man in a storm."

"Thanks for letting me stay here, Meredith," Richard said as he watched Maggie and Amelia lug his heavy suitcases from his car and into the house.

"How long are you staying again?" Meredith asked, watching as the other two women dragged the large suitcases up the stairs.

"Just a few days. Maybe a week. Termites can be tricky things to deal with and there were a lot of them," he replied over his shoulder, following his suitcases to make sure they weren't damaged. Plus, Adele had always said his eyes gave him away when he tried to lie.

It took Richard 45 minutes after moving in before he mentioned the fact his birthday was only 2 days away.

"We should do something for your birthday!" was Maggie's immediate response, followed by a less than impressed look from Meredith and a very unimpressed look from Amelia.

"How about a dinner party?" came Richard's instant reply, failing to hide the fact that this was his intention all along.

"Because look how well that went last time," Amelia muttered.

"We'll keep it small. It can be just us!" Maggie exclaimed, not letting the other women's lack of enthusiasm dampen her own.

"Can I invite a few friends?" Richard quickly interjected.

"Of course," Maggie replied, before pulling out her phone to make a list of everything she would need to buy.

"Great. This dinner party just sounds better and better," Amelia said sarcastically, already imagining a tortuous night of listening to a bunch of old men reminisce about 'the good old days' while she sat there sober and unable to leave.

Maggie was running around the kitchen giving the other two women instructions. Apparently she was determined to make up for the last dinner party by being absolutely neurotic about this one.

Amelia was chopping carrots and wondering how much of her pinky she would have to chop off to get out of the night.

"Thinner slices, Amelia, or they'll never cook in time," Maggie instructed, causing Amelia to wonder if maybe it was worth cutting off her whole hand.

"Who do you think Richard is bringing?" Meredith finally asked the question that had been playing on her mind.

"I don't know. I assumed it was old friends from med school or something," Amelia replied nonchalantly before things finally started to click. "Wait. DeLuca told me he would see me later as I left the hospital today. I figured he was being an ass."

Maggie had stopped her constant movement around the kitchen and now stood with one hand halfway to the fridge door, having completely forgotten what she was doing.

As Meredith and Amelia exchanged glances, the doorbell rang, breaking Maggie out of her stupor and sending her into a frenzy again.

"I just have to find the, uh, find the, the thing. You know what I mean. Can someone else get that?" Maggie asked, trying to convince herself that DeLuca wouldn't be stupid enough to come after everything that had happened between them.

"I'll get it," Amelia quickly replied, eager to get away from Maggie and the carrots that were starting to drive her insane. She could make out three people through the glass in the door and was beginning to become very curious about Richard's 'friends'.

Opening the door, Amelia found herself face to face with not only Richard and DeLuca, but also Thorpe. A smile broke out across her face as she realized that this night was going to be more interesting than she expected.

"Happy birthday Richard," she said, stepping aside to let the three men in.

"Thank you, Amelia," Richard replied as he passed her. "The others will be here soon."

"Others?" Amelia asked, although her question went unanswered as the three men made their way into the kitchen.

Thorpe kissed a bewildered Meredith on the cheek while DeLuca tried to do the same to Maggie who abruptly turned and began chopping the carrots Amelia had abandoned. Richard simply stood there smiling, completely oblivious to the tension that now filled the room.

"Happy birthday, Richard," Maggie finally managed to say, attempting to take everyone's attention off of her.

"Yeah, happy birthday," Meredith added, still trying to take in what was happening.

As Maggie continued her furious chopping of the carrots, the doorbell rang again.

"That will be them," Richard said, heading back to the door.

Amelia stepped back into the foyer and out of his way, also eager to see how much more drama Richard was going to create with his 'friends'. Owen had briefly crossed her mind but she knew Richard wouldn't do that. He might have been totally oblivious to the end of Maggie and DeLuca's relationship but he'd been at the meeting where she had opened up about what Owen had done.

"Catherine, welcome," Richard greeted, stepping aside to usher the woman in.

Catherine kissed her husband as she passed him, taking off her coat and handing it to Amelia before entering the kitchen and immediately taking charge of the food preparation. Richard followed behind, still smiling to himself.

As Amelia hung up Catherine's coat, she heard Meredith open a bottle of wine and begin offering it around. Suddenly, Amelia was very aware of the fact the dinner party was now four couples (Maggie and DeLuca had broken up and gotten back together so many times, she wasn't actually sure where they were at right now), and her. She knew she should have cut her hand off.

Turning back towards the kitchen, she was visibly startled when the doorbell rang once more. She hesitantly made her way across the foyer again, desperately trying to make out who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Arizona?"

"Amelia," the blonde replied, smiling widely at her. "Richard invited me to his birthday dinner party?"

"Ok… Come in?"

Neither woman was sure when they had started ending every sentence with a question mark.

"I'm not sure this dinner party will be any better than the last," Amelia warned, taking Arizona's coat to avoid heading back into the kitchen. "He invited DeLuca and Thorpe."

People at the hospital talk. Arizona had heard all about Meredith's new man and Maggie's rollercoaster relationship with DeLuca. Suddenly she wasn't so sure that coming to this thing was the best idea. Sure, her and Richard had gone out to bars quite frequently over the past 6 months, and he was a great wingman, but when he'd invited her to his birthday dinner, she was shocked. She was used to all their interactions being either strictly professional, or about setting her up with a woman. This was new territory. Or was it. Arizona began to wonder what exactly Richard's reasons were for inviting her tonight.

Heading to join the others in the, now very cramped, kitchen, Arizona followed the shorter woman, taking the opportunity to admire Amelia's jeans, and the way they made her ass look amazing.

Catherine had everyone working on different aspects of the meal, and upon noticing the two women now hovering in the doorway, she handed them a stack of plates and cutlery, instructing them to set the table. Amelia was just glad to be far away from the food prep.

"I didn't know you and Richard were friends? I mean, I get him inviting DeLuca for Maggie and Thorpe for Mer, but how did you score an invite?" Amelia asked, before letting out a breathy laugh. "Unless he's gotten his wires crossed and thinks you and I are a thing."

"I'm honestly not sure," Arizona began, not wanting to reveal her suspicions to the only other person at this dinner party that wasn't likely to end the night with a fight. Or sex. She was also greatly regretting mentioning the way she had been crushing on Amelia and how after the last dinner party, where she'd drunkenly watched Amelia yell and cry, she'd sat there wishing she could be the one to comfort her. "He's sort of been my wingman."

"Richard Webber is your wingman?" Amelia questioned incredulously. "Now that's something I have to see."

Oh I just think you might, Arizona thought.

It wasn't long before the dinner was ready and it was delicious, even if Catherine was taking credit for it all and earning herself several death glares from Maggie who had spent 4 hours slaving away in the kitchen before anyone else arrived.

Richard had placed himself at the head of the table with Catherine, Meredith and Thorpe on his left, Arizona, Amelia and Maggie on his right and DeLuca sitting at the other end. Arizona had tried to sit as far away from Richard as possible but unfortunately he'd pulled the whole 'it's my birthday, I get what I want' routine and chosen everyone's seats for them.

Everyone had just finished serving themselves when Richard began talking about Arizona's amazing ability to stay calm during a crisis. Arizona had ducked her head and blushed, feeling more and more certain about his intentions.

"She's a good man in a storm," he stated, looking intently at a very confused Amelia, while Arizona flicked her eyes between the two of them and suppressed the urge to groan. He was a great wingman when she wanted him to be, but when he was trying to sell her to a straight girl, the whole thing just became cringe-worthy.

Richard's praises of Arizona came far too frequently throughout the meal and if she wasn't completely out of the closet, Catherine would probably think they were sleeping together. Although she didn't have to worry about Catherine thinking anything because it seemed Richard had briefed her on his plans for the evening because she was completely focused on Amelia.

"So, Amelia, is there a man or woman in your life at the moment?" Catherine said abruptly and with zero tact. Meredith had choked on her wine and Maggie probably would have too, had her and DeLuca not been having a whispered argument that everyone else was choosing to ignore.

In an effort to avoid answering immediately, Amelia speared a carrot and shoved it into her mouth. It was still hard. Maggie was right; she should have cut thinner slices.

"Um, no," she replied, resisting the urge to call the older woman ma'am. Arizona was looking at her now. The blonde knew the answer was no but she was sure Amelia would clarify that she was straight. All straight girls seemed to go out of their way to make sure you knew that they were one hundred percent into penis. In fact, a question like that usually led to the straight girl telling a story about how big her last boyfriend's dick was, just so there was no misunderstanding. So needless to say, Arizona was completely thrown by the other woman's short reply.

Richard and Catherine exchanged a look as a confused Thorpe looked to Meredith, who was staring intently at Arizona, who's mouth was just slightly opened as she watched Amelia, who was turning a violent shade of red and shoveling food into her mouth at an alarming speed, desperate for this night to be over. She was completely over Owen, and was never going back there again, but as far as everyone at the hospital knew, she was straight. She didn't think she'd ever given them any reason to think otherwise, but apparently she'd done something to make Catherine Avery ask that question. She cursed herself internally for letting her gaze rest on Arizona's cleavage a little too long earlier, she just couldn't help it when everyone around her was coupling up and she'd never seen the blonde in anything but work clothes. Well at least she couldn't remember if she had. She'd been pretty caught up on Owen for a while there.

Meredith and Thorpe began their own whispered conversation in which Meredith tried to reassure both her boyfriend and herself that Amelia was straight and Catherine Avery was just trying to be inclusive and accepting for once in her life.

Maggie and DeLuca were still completely oblivious to everything else going on at the table, however their argument was growing more heated and as Maggie pounded her fist on the table, everyone turned to look. Except Amelia who's focus was still on eating her meal as fast as possible in order to escape.

"We'll be right back," Maggie said with a curt smile at the other dinner guests. Standing, she practically dragged DeLuca through the house and up to her bedroom.

As if completely unfazed by it all, Richard turned his focus back on Arizona and Amelia, telling story after story about their achievements and complimenting them both repeatedly. Amelia briefly wondered if he had memorized her CV on purpose but was honestly very glad that they were back to talking about work and not her lack of relationships.

After they had all finished their meal, except for Maggie and DeLuca who could still be heard yelling at each other upstairs, Catherine finally managed to stop her husband's rambling long enough to convince him that they needed to 'talk' before she flew home again tomorrow. With that they disappeared into the spare room and Meredith used it as the perfect excuse to also whisk Thorpe upstairs to her own room.

Arizona and Amelia were left in shock by it all and found themselves silently clearing the table and stacking everything into the dishwasher.

"Sorry about tonight," Amelia said awkwardly, as they stood admiring the now clean kitchen.

"Why? It wasn't your fault," Arizona stated simply. "Besides, I sort of had fun."

"That was your idea of fun?"

"Well not exactly, but it was definitely better than the last one," Arizona replied, turning towards the living room. "Let's sit down, my leg is killing me."

"Don't even remind me about the last one. That was hell."

"Yeah. Let's not talk about that. Not that I have a very clear recollection of it," Arizona cringed at the memory of the horrific hangover she had endured the next day.

"Lucky you."

"I'm sorry. Let's talk about something else," Arizona quickly apologized as she began massaging her aching thigh. Sometimes her prosthetic just didn't seem to work right and took ten times the effort to make it do what she wanted to do.

"Please."

"So Amelia, is there a man or woman in your life at the moment?" Arizona teased, hoping the brunette would at least laugh.

"Ha. Ha," came the sarcastic reply.

"Oh, lighten up," Arizona said with a smile, moving down the couch playfully push the shorter woman who now had her arms crossed. "It's not the worst question she could have asked. She could have asked you who you like?"

"No one," Amelia replied too quickly, not realized Arizona wasn't actually asking.

"Or what your type is?" Arizona continued playfully, now eager to get as much information out of the pretty, maybe-not-so-straight, neurosurgeon sitting next to her.

"Someone stable. And calm. Someone who can keep Hurricane Amelia from becoming a Category 5 storm."

And just like that it all fell into place in Arizona's mind. She was a good man in a storm and so he'd set her up with Hurricane Amelia.

"I have two types," Arizona stated.

"Yeah?" Amelia questioned, relaxing a bit and actually looking the other woman in the eye.

"Yep. For random, meaningless sex, I always go for the disposable blondes. The ones who will move away or who you can get rid of easily."

"And the other type?" Amelia was curious. She didn't really think she had a type, she just knew that so far none of her past partners had been it. She knew she needed supportive, safe and calm, and the more she thought about it, and the more she looked at the woman beside her, the more she realized, maybe a woman with a kid and an actual house was what she needed. Not that she thought Arizona would ever actually be interested in the mess that was Hurricane Amelia. She just certainly didn't need a man who lived in a trailer and had just as many problems as her but refused to actually get help.

"The other type is my long-term, marry-me type. The feisty brunettes who keep shaking up your world but you let them and you help them calm their world down. I think it's a paeds thing. Kids come into hospital and they think their whole world is over and they panic and cry and scream and you calm them down and fix them. I like fixing people."

"Want to fix me?" Amelia muttered in a breathy laugh, quietly enough that Arizona wouldn't have heard, had she not moved so that she was sitting so close that her leg was touching the brunette's.

"I thought you'd never ask," Arizona whispered as she leant in and kissed Amelia softly on the lips. The brunette's eyelids fluttered closed as she gently returned the kiss.

Amelia had grown so used to rough lips and a scratchy beard that the softness of Arizona's lips caught her off guard and made her wonder why she'd ever bothered with men at all. She'd kissed a few girls in college when she was drunk or high or both but there was something totally different about kissing a girl sober. Or maybe it was just kissing Arizona that was different.

The kiss was brief, but both women found themselves breathing heavily as they pulled apart.

"I've noticed you, you know," Arizona softly told her. "This past month, you've changed. You look like you are in control. You look like you're already fixing yourself."

Amelia hadn't expected the blonde to kiss her. She hadn't expected the accomplished, organized, calm Arizona to even look twice at the mess that seemed to constantly follow Hurricane Amelia.

"I'm not so sure about that," Amelia said, suddenly feeling very shy and becoming very concerned with picking off a piece of lint from her jeans.

"I am," Arizona replied simply before gently turning Amelia's face back to her own and leaning in to kiss her again.

Neither woman noticed that Meredith had come back downstairs, suddenly realizing she was leaving all the dishes to her guests yet again. Halfway down the stairs, she stopped and stared at the two women currently kissing on her couch. Not making out. Not desperately groping each other. Just simply and sweetly kissing. She couldn't help but smile to herself. She'd been worried about Amelia ever since she'd started dating Owen and since they'd broken up, and she'd seen how much better Amelia was, she'd been worried they'd get back together. But this, this was what Amelia needed. Sweet and calming Arizona. A good man in a storm.

Creeping back upstairs, she made a mental note to give Arizona a stern talking to tomorrow and warn her that if she did anything to hurt Amelia, Meredith would be forced to kill her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Robbins," Meredith sternly greeted Arizona the next day on the paediatric ward.

With just that one word, Arizona knew they'd been caught. Meredith had no reason to be on the paediatric ward and certainly had no other reason to take such a tone with her. Putting on what she hoped was a 'my intentions are totally honourable with your sister-in-law' smile, she looked up from the notes she was writing and turned, coming face-to-face with Meredith's best attempt at a 'hurt her and you're dead' glare.

"We need to talk," the younger woman stated before turning on her heel and heading for an empty patient room.

Arizona slowly followed her, hoping that would give her just enough time to me paged into emergency surgery. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side that day and as she entered the room and closed the door behind her, Meredith closed the blinds before crossing her arms and standing up tall, making the most of the extra 2 inches she had on the blonde.

"I saw you," she began, she'd planned what she was going to say but now face-to-face with the older woman, she began to doubt herself. After all, she really had no idea what was actually going on between the two women she had caught kissing. For all she knew it was a one time thing. Or it could have been going on behind her back for months. That last thought made her angry and now all she wanted was an explanation. "What were you doing with Amelia?"

Arizona had authority issues and although Meredith was younger and not her boss in any way, between the tone and the glare and her stance, it was starting to get to the blonde. She tickled the roof of her mouth with her tongue, a trick she'd learnt to stop the crying, at least until she was alone.

"We kissed," Arizona started slowly, however Meredith was not in the mood for waiting and wanted answers now.

"I saw," she tersely interrupted. "How long has this been going on?"

"Last night was the first time. All we did was kiss," Arizona blurted out quickly, having flashbacks to the time her high school girlfriend's father had caught them making out. She'd cried then.

"Why?" Meredith said, softening considerably as she noticed the older woman's eyes begin to well up with tears. She wanted to protect the woman she considered to be a sister but she also didn't want to deal with Amelia's wrath if she made her new girlfriend cry. Were they even girlfriends?

"It just sort of happened?" Arizona had managed to swallow the lump in her throat and had calmed down as she noticed the change in Meredith's demeanor. "I sort of drunkenly mentioned how pretty I though Amelia was to Richard a few months back and I think last night was his attempt to be my wingman."

Meredith found herself laughing. Of course that was what Richard had done. It was exactly the kind of dimwitted plan that he would come up with. She laughed even harder at the fact it had worked.

Arizona softly laughed along with her.

"What now?" Meredith asked, remembering why she'd dragged the other woman in there in the first place.

"I'm don't know. I really like her, Meredith," Arizona said sincerely.

"She's been through a lot," Meredith began. She wasn't sure if she was attempting to scare Arizona or simply prepare her.

"Haven't we all."

She had Meredith there. Everyone at the hospital had been through a lot. Sometimes she wondered if the hospital was cursed.

"I'm not even sure what she wants, if she wants anything at all. Just please believe me when I tell you that I care about her and I'm not going to do anything to hurt her," Arizona reassured the younger woman. She had screwed up a lot in the past but she wasn't going to do anything to ruin this.

She just had to work out what 'this' actually was.

"You're a good sister, Meredith, and once I've actually spoken to Amelia, I'll make sure she keeps you in the loop," Arizona finished, moving back to the door when she heard Meredith mutter one last thought under her breath.

"So Amelia's gay?"

Turning back to the younger woman, Arizona realized that under the false-bravado she had conveyed when the conversation began, Meredith was actually just as concerned and confused as Tim had been when Arizona came out.

"I don't know. I don't even think she knows. I mean, probably not, since she has been interested in men but right now, she's probably just as confused as you are and knowing that you love her no matter what would probably help."

With that Arizona opened the door, leaving Meredith to process everything. She hadn't really thought about the fact Arizona was a woman, she'd just wanted to make sure Amelia didn't get hurt. She hadn't been nearly as intimidating as she'd wanted, and she hadn't said anything she'd planned on saying but she still walked away feeling a lot more relaxed. Now she just had to find Amelia.


	3. Chapter 3

Amelia's pager went off at the same time that her name was called from the entrance to the ER. Glancing down she saw it was a text page and decided it could wait because whoever was calling her name was beginning to sound frantic.

Standing up from her seat at the desk, she spotted Meredith who practically power-walked to her.

"We need to talk," Meredith hurriedly told her, dragging the shorter woman into an empty trauma room and closing the door behind them.

"Is everything alright?" Amelia asked, hoping that whatever had Meredith so frantic wasn't the same thing that had her brain going around in circles, and her stomach doing somersaults.

"Yes. No. Yes. Yes, it's… I don't know, is it?" Meredith definitely regretted not planning this speech out beforehand but after her conversation with Arizona, she was desperate to talk to Amelia.

"Yes?" Amelia tentatively replied, raising an eyebrow, as her sister-in-law appeared to have some sort of crisis.

"I saw you, uh, you and Arizona. Kissing?" Meredith was very unsure of how best to approach this topic. She was trying to make it seem like a non-issue but she knew she was failing miserably.

"Oh."

"I just wasn't sure, what it meant? So, uh, I thought I'd ask you?" Meredith was going for the 'I'm totally open to whatever your answer might be' look but she had a feeling she just looked stressed. Or constipated.

Amelia wasn't exactly sure what to say. She had a million thoughts rushing through her head all at once and she couldn't find the right answer because she realized she didn't know what it meant. She could talk her way out of almost anything but this was different. She really needed to talk about this with someone and since Meredith already knew, this could be her only chance.

"I don't know what it meant? But, it was nice. Really nice. She's nice. And it's new. She's smiley and happy and so cheery and totally not the type of person I ever thought would be interested in me. I mean, I'm frickin Hurricane Amelia and she's, she's… She's a she," Amelia blurted out quickly while pacing back and forth. Finishing her rant, she stopped and looked at Meredith who had just realized she was completely out of her depth.

"You're freaking out because she was too nice and she's a she?" Meredith summarized.

"No. No, I'm not freaking out. I'm, I'm," Amelia paused and took a deep breath. "I like her, Mer. I really like her."

"Ok," Meredith said. "Well, that's good because she really likes you too."

"She does?" Amelia's eyes lit up.

"Yeah. So you two should talk to each other," Meredith suggested and she turned and exited the room.

"Wait, you talked to her about me?" Amelia yelled after her but Meredith didn't turn back. Instead her reply came from the desk to the ER where Arizona was sitting catching her breath.

"Yes. She did. I, uh, I paged you," Arizona said quietly, still catching her breath after frantically searching the hospital for her.

Remembering the text page she'd received at Meredith showed up, she checked her pager again.

'Meredith saw us. She's coming for you!' the page read.

"Oh."

"I guess we should talk?" Arizona suggested.

"Yeah. Definitely," Amelia said smiling as she offered the blonde her hand and led them back into the trauma room.

Arizona was perfectly happy being dragged into a trauma room by the woman she had been crushing on for the past few months but she was wary of what exactly was going to happen once they did talk. Straight girls and baby lesbians led to trouble. She had proved that time and time again but it seemed like there was a considerable lack of out lesbians who were looking for an actual relationship. Or maybe they just weren't looking for a relationship with her.

Taking a deep breath, Arizona tried to prepare herself for the worst before making eye contact with the brunette, who was patiently waiting for her to look up.

"You like me," Amelia stated with a smirk causing the other woman to blush and dip her head again.

"Yeah. I do."

"I like you."

At that, Arizona looked up and couldn't help the way her eyes widened, causing Amelia to chuckle softly.

"I like you. And I liked kissing you. And I would like to kiss you again," Amelia said, punctuating each statement with a step towards the blonde, stopping with their lips inches away from each other. "But."

"But?"

"But. I would like to take this slow. And like I said, I like you. So, I would like to take you on a date. Except I don't really know how to date another woman." Amelia was determined not to rush into anything so she was mildly grateful for the insane number of butterflies in her stomach that was stopping her from taking the other woman right there. Not that she knew what 'taking her' would actually involve.

"It's not that different to dating a man. I mean, it's sort of great because since there's no man there to pay for dinner, no one pays. But since there's no man there to pull out your chair, we both have to stand," Arizona said in her most matter-of-fact voice.

Amelia stared at the blonde for a second before Arizona couldn't keep a straight face anymore.

"You're joking," the brunette said, beginning to laugh at herself for believing it for even a second.

"Of course I am. Just relax. I want to go slow too," Arizona told her with a smile before reaching up and cupping the shorter woman's face and leaning in.

The kisses the night before had been almost electric but this was something else. This kiss felt like the beginning. Like the first kiss of many. Like the first rays of sunshine after a storm.


	4. Chapter 4

After 2 days of chaste kisses stolen in supply closets and on-call rooms, Arizona was eager to go on an actual date, even if they had decided to be discrete in an attempt to avoid becoming hospital gossip. So after checking their rosters and seeing that they both had the weekend off, Arizona had told Amelia to be ready for noon on Saturday.

Now, Arizona found herself pacing back and forth on the porch of Meredith's house because as usual she had panicked and arrived far too early. Just as she began to feel slightly dizzy, the door suddenly opened and Maggie appeared.

"Can I help you?" Maggie asked, clearly surprised to find the foetal surgeon pacing back and forth on her porch.

"Um, Amelia and I are doing lunch," Arizona told her, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh. I figured she was going on a date or something with the level of crazy she has been this morning," Maggie began to ramble. "She came into my room at 7 this morning, half-naked and accusing me of stealing her favourite jeans. Then she spent 5 minutes straight knocking on the bathroom door because Meredith was in there and she'd left her eye-shadow in there. I just assumed that if you're acting that crazy, you have to be trying to impress someone."

"Thank you, Maggie," Amelia interrupted from behind her. As she stepped into the doorway, Arizona mouth went dry as she took in the woman before her. Amelia was wearing her favourite black jeans with boots and one of her many black crop-tops that showed just a sliver of skin. Arizona had been admiring the woman for month but now that she knew that she was the reason behind the effort the brunette had put in, the other woman was suddenly even more beautiful.

"Hey," Amelia greeted, since the blonde had apparently lost the ability to speak. "Bye Maggie."

"See you," Maggie replied as she closed the door, completely oblivious.

"You look beautiful," Arizona finally managed to say as they made the way to her car.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Amelia said playfully. In all honesty, she had always thought Arizona was cute but seeing her today in blue jeans and a red top that showed just the right about of cleavage, she realized just how hot the foetal surgeon was.

As they reached the car, Arizona opened the door for Amelia who blushed slightly at the gesture. Men didn't even open doors for her; she hadn't expected that from a woman at all. She guessed she had a lot to learn about dating women. Well, a woman. She was sort of hoping that things would work out with this one.

"Where are we going?" Amelia asked as Arizona settled into the driver's seat. Arizona had simply told her what time to be ready and had said not to get too dressed-up for it. Every other question so far had been met with a very frustrating "wait and see".

"Wait and see," Arizona replied, laughing softly at the annoyed expression on the brunette's face. "It's not too far from here."

As they began to drive, Arizona hummed along to the music, thinking about what Maggie had told her about how 'crazy' Amelia had been that morning. Suddenly, she remembered one particular remark the woman had made.

"Do you always prepare for a date by wandering into other women's rooms half naked?" Arizona joked, knowing the two women Amelia lived with had become like sisters to her.

"I would kill her but she's so oblivious to everything around her that she probably wouldn't notice," Amelia said with a smile. She was very glad the other woman hadn't worked out that she was going on a date with Arizona. It wasn't that she was ashamed to be dating Arizona, she just wanted to take it slow and once more people found out, 'going slow' would become near impossible. For now, she was happy to be discrete and just enjoy spending time with the blonde.

A few minutes later, Arizona pulled into a car park and popped open the boot before smiling at Amelia and getting out of the car. As she pulled a few things out the boot, she watched Amelia closely, suddenly doubting if this was a good idea. The other woman seemed edgy and cool, like she would be much more at home in a club than on a picnic.

Coming around to help Arizona carry things out of the boot, Amelia couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face. She'd always wanted to go on picnics as a kid but with her mum working so hard to support 5 kids as a single parent, there wasn't much time for picnics.

"Thank you, " she said, leaning in a kissing the blonde on the cheek as she bent down and picked up the deceptively heavy picnic basket. "Wow, how much food did you bring?"

"I might have gone a little overboard," Arizona said, which was easily the understatement of the century. She had spent the whole morning preparing chicken salad wraps, quinoa salad, a cheese plate, brownies, fresh fruit skewers and freshly squeezed orange juice. Someone really had to delete her Pinterest for her, she decided.

Gathering up the basket and a picnic blanket, they made their way into the park and found a nice patch of grass in the shade of some trees, a little ways away from a family who were also enjoying the weather with a picnic.

Amelia lay the blanket out and then helped Arizona to sit down before sitting beside her and pulling the basket towards them.

"Well, if we're going to get through all this food, we better start now," Amelia said, opening the basket to see all the food Arizona had made.

An hour or so later, they had made a sizeable dent in the amount of food and were both lying back on the blanket in a food coma.

Amelia had turned her head and was watching as the blonde lay beside her, eyes closed and looking completely relaxed.

"I can feel you staring," Arizona said, before opening her eyes and turning onto her side and meeting Amelia's intense gaze.

"Kiss me," Amelia instructed, leaning in to meet the other woman lips. The kiss was simple but each woman seemed to be pouring her emotions into it. It was as if the kiss was their way or communicating how they felt when they couldn't say it out loud.

As they slowly pulled apart, Arizona stretched her arm out behind Amelia's head and the brunette felt completely comfortable in that moment. Amelia had always been someone who moved fast in relationships, usually sleeping with someone before they had even been on an actual date, but this was different. This is was slow and gentle and full of emotion and it was perfect.

At some point, Amelia had become so comfortable she had begun to doze off. In her sleep, she rolled towards the other woman and wrapped her arm around her, nuzzling further into the blonde. Arizona was perfectly happy to let the other woman rest; after all she appeared to have had a very stressful morning.

While Amelia slept, Arizona people-watched. She watched a dad planning catch with his 2 kids and their dog. She watched a little old man sit on a bench and throw some bread to the ducks that gathered at his feet. She watched a man and woman set up a picnic blanket not too far from their own, except they were lying in opposite directions to each other and now her was–

"Amelia, wake up," Arizona hurriedly said, still shocked at what she was seeing.

Amelia sleepily opened her eyes and looked up at the blonde with a smile. If she hadn't been so flustered, Arizona would have thought she looked twice as beautiful with such a sweet and peaceful look on her face.

"Don't make it obvious, but there is a couple to your right and are they doing what I think they're doing?"

Amelia pretended to stretch and looked over in the direction Arizona had indicated before quickly whipping her head back around.

"Is he going down on her? In a public park?" Amelia whispered incredulously.

"It sure as hell looks that way."

"Maybe we should go?" Amelia suggested. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the other couple but also feeling slightly turned on because it had been far too long since anyone had done that to her.

"Yeah," Arizona said, sad that the other couple had ruined their perfect picnic. But she was not going to let the date end so soon. "We could go back to my place if you like? Watch a movie? Finish of the rest of this picnic food?"

"Good idea," Amelia said, as they packed up the basket again.

As they made their way back to the car, Amelia began to laugh loudly and soon Arizona had joined her. This would definitely be a date they would never forget.

 **AN: That might seem like a total ridiculous scenario but it is a real thing that happened when I took my last girlfriend on a picnic and I had to put it in.**


	5. Chapter 5

Opening the door to her apartment, Arizona ushered Amelia in and turned on the lights before carrying the picnic basket to the kitchen and putting the leftovers away.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Arizona said, with her head in the fridge. Suddenly realizing how that may have sounded, she pulled her head out and made eye contact with Amelia as she hurriedly continued. "I mean like water, or juice, or soda, or milk or strawberry Koolaid…"

"A water would be great," Amelia interrupted with a smile, walking over to stand in front of the blonde. "Relax, I'm not going to fall off the wagon even if someone puts a whole bottle of vodka in front of me. I'm not going back there. And strawberry Koolaid?"

"Sofia likes it," Arizona replied shyly.

"Don't red drinks make kids hyper?" Amelia questioned.

"You're a doctor, you should know that's a myth," Arizona replied before smiling. "Besides, I only give it to her right before I know Penny's coming to pick her up."

Amelia's face broke into a wide grin and leant in to kiss the blonde. She was so glad that not everyone had fallen in love with Penny like Meredith apparently had.

Once their lips met, they both felt something different about the kiss. Their previous kisses had been chaste and wonderful but this kiss sent electricity through them and as the intensity built up, Amelia found herself flicking her tongue along Arizona's lip before sucking it into her mouth and nibbling on it gently.

Just as quickly as the kiss had heated up, it ended as Arizona got caught up and put all of her weight on to her left leg as she tried to close the fridge and push Amelia against it. Grabbing onto Amelia for support, she only succeeded in pulling the other woman down with her.

Amelia landed mostly on top of the blonde and quickly pushed herself up, concerned about Arizona who was simply looking back at her with a goofy smile on her face. As both women began to laugh, they didn't hear DeLuca open the front door.

DeLuca had been so lost in his own thoughts about his latest fight with Maggie that he'd almost tripped over the two women on the kitchen floor.

"Uhh, sorry!" he managed to quickly blurt out before turning and practically running to his room, closing the door and leaning against it. Robbins was lying on the kitchen floor with someone and that someone looked a hell of a lot like Dr. Shepherd.

After DeLuca's unexpected return, the women felt their bubble burst. Their little, discrete, perfect bubble where they didn't have to worry about rumours and gossip and everyone else's opinions was officially gone.

Amelia helped Arizona up and taking the leftover brownies they made their way to sit on the couch. They had anticipated having a serious conversation about where they were going this early on, but it had to happen now or else they would be inundated with questions they couldn't answer.

"So," Arizona started, playing with the brownie in her hands before finally taking a bite.

"So," Amelia replied.

"DeLuca and Meredith know."

"At least Maggie was completely oblivious?" Amelia offered.

Both women were silent as they chewed on their brownies and worked up the courage to say what they truly felt.

"I like you," Amelia finally blurted out.

"I like you too," Arizona replied with a small smile. "But once people at the hospital start talking. We need more than 'we like each other'."

"I really like you," Amelia reiterated, reaching across the plate of brownies to take Arizona's hand. "I know I'm new to all this but, you make me happy. I want to see where this goes so if I have to walk into that hospital on Monday wearing scrubs that have 'I'm dating Arizona Robbins' printed on them, I will."

Arizona simply stared back at her as she ranted on, causing Amelia to second-guess herself.

"Unless, you don't want that? Which is totally fine," Amelia said, back-pedaling.

"Shut up," Arizona stopped her before she could start another rant, pulling her towards her by the hand and meeting her in another passionate kiss.

It wasn't long before Amelia became very aware of the fact she hadn't had sex in over a month and as she tried to push Arizona down so she could press her body even closer to the blonde's, she knocked the plate of brownies to the ground. The sound of the plate smashing tore both women out of the trance they were in and they pulled apart slightly, both breathing heavily.

"DeLuca," Arizona whispered. "He could come back out."

"Right. Yeah," Amelia said, desperately attempting to tame the beast Arizona had just awoken in her again. She'd gotten so caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten that she'd never actually had sex with another woman. She'd gotten lost in the fact that something about it just felt right. "We could go to your room?"

The blonde didn't reply, she simply let a wide grin take over her face and she stood up, dragging the other woman behind her to her room.


	6. Chapter 6

As she turned to close the bedroom door behind them, Amelia felt Arizona push her up against it before turning her around and capturing her lips in another heated kiss.

Amelia pushed off of the door and walked them backwards to the bed, holding on to Arizona's hips to keep her steady but without breaking the kiss. Feeling the edge of the bed hit the back of her knee; Arizona fell back, gripping onto the front of Amelia's shirt to pull the brunette down on top of her.

Arizona slid her good leg up to meet Amelia's centre, causing the other woman to arch her back and pull away from the kiss. Presented with the pale white flesh of Amelia's neck, Arizona lifted her head and began to kiss her way up to the brunette's ear, nibbling softly at her earlobe before moaning quietly as Amelia thrust her hips down and pushed her own thigh upwards between the blonde's legs.

As Amelia began to rock against Arizona's thigh, the blonde flipped them over and hovered above the other woman who stared back up at her, mouth slightly parted and breathing heavily.

"I've never done this before," Amelia admitted softly. She didn't want Arizona to stop but she had just suddenly realized she wasn't entirely sure what to do once they were naked. She knew how to pleasure herself but she wasn't sure if it was the same on another woman and contrary to popular belief, Amelia hated screwing up.

"We don't have to. We did say we would go slow and this isn't exactly slow," Arizona said as she made to move herself off of Amelia.

"No, I want to," Amelia reassured, grabbing ahold of Arizona's arm before she could retreat. "Teach me?"

Answering the question simply with a grin, Arizona reattached her lips to the brunette's and placed one hand on the sliver of exposed skin between Amelia's shirt and her jeans. She lightly ticked the other woman as she softly dragged her nails up, pulling Amelia's shirt up as she went. She paused briefly as her fingertips reached the underwire of Amelia's bra. Breaking the kiss, Arizona sat up, tugging at Amelia's shirt until she had it up and over the other woman's head. She admired the smooth skin, desperate to run her hands over every inch of Amelia's body.

Leaning down again, Arizona kissed Amelia softly before leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck. When she reached the brunette's collarbone, she grazed her teeth against it, causing goosebumps to erupt all over Amelia's skin. Arizona continued kissing her way down the other woman's chest, pausing briefly as she came to the swell of Amelia's breast, but a low moan from deep in the neurosurgeons throat encouraged her and she slipped her hand around and deftly unhooked the bra that was in her way.

As Amelia slid her bra off, she looked up at the blonde, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. As if reading her mind, Arizona leant down and softly pressed their lips together before sitting up and removing her own shirt and bra. Amelia swallowed hard as she took in the perfect breasts before her. She had never really noticed another woman's boobs before but she as she gently reached up and cupped Arizona's, she wondered why she'd never noticed how perfect they were.

Arizona's nipple hardened as Amelia's palm brushed against it, causing the blonde to press forward and encouraging the other woman to squeeze harder. Leaning down, Arizona continued her trail of kisses across Amelia's chest before gently taking the brunette's nipple in her mouth and sucking gently. She heard the other woman moan as she flicked the hardened nipple between her teeth, reaching over to squeeze the other breast with her hand.

Amelia continued to explore Arizona's breasts, squeezing them and rolling the nipples between her fingers as she tried to copy what the blonde's tongue was doing to her own breasts.

Kissing her way down Amelia's stomach, Arizona paused as she reached the waistband of the brunette's jeans. Leaning back she slowly undid them as she looked into Amelia's darkened eyes. She felt a rush of heat flow through her before settling in her now aching centre, which only made her more desperate to strip Amelia of her jeans and thrust inside of her.

Taking a deep breath, Arizona reminded herself that she needed to take it slow, even if it had been way too long since she'd had sex. Or at least sex with someone she actually cared about.

Sliding Amelia's jeans off, she was surprised to find the woman didn't wear underwear, causing her to stop her actions as she took in the sight before her.

"Sorry, I don't really like underwear," Amelia shyly spoke up when she realized Arizona had stopped.

"You're beautiful," Arizona whispered, in awe of the woman who lay beneath her. She softly kissed her way up Amelia's inner thighs, alternating sides until her lips were just inches from the other woman's centre. She could see how wet the brunette was as she leant in and placed a light kiss over her folds before slowly running her tongue between them. Amelia gasped and arched her back at the sudden contact, thrusting herself into Arizona who let out a low moan and began tracing slow circles around the brunette's clit.

Arizona began licking up and down, flicking Amelia's clit on every upstroke. She was driving Amelia crazy and just when she felt the brunette begin to tense up, Arizona refocused on the other woman's clit with her tongue and carefully slid one finger inside before making a come hither motion and hitting Amelia's g-spot.

Amelia felt every muscle in her body become tense as she came, feeling her orgasm ripple through her whole body in waves as she clenched around Arizona's finger and thrust herself into the blonde's mouth. She had a thousand thoughts running through her head, but at the same time she couldn't think about anything other than the pleasure that was coursing through her veins. She had never come like that with a man. They were usually all about getting themselves off without a second thought for her. This. This was something else entirely.

Kissing her way back up Amelia's body, Arizona smiled as she looked down at the brunette who was still breathing heavily with her eyes closed. Amelia smiled back as she opened her eyes, leaning up to kiss Arizona, tasting herself on the blonde's lips.

"Wow, that was. That was amazing," Amelia whispered, causing Arizona to blush slightly before rolling to lie next to the brunette with one arm still draped over her.

"I'll let you catch your breath before round two," Arizona said with a smirk.

"I don't think round one is quite over yet," Amelia replied, rolling to face the blonde. "It's your turn now."

Arizona hadn't thought she could get any wetter but apparently with Amelia, anything was possible.


	7. Chapter 7

Amelia was always a fast learner. From her first-grade spelling test to clipping her first aneurysm, she seemed to pick up new skills with ease and perform them like a professional straight away.

She hoped sex with another woman was no different.

Planting a firm kiss on the blonde's lips, she easily rolled herself on top of the other woman and without breaking the kiss, she deftly unhooked Arizona's jeans and finally sat up so she could slip them off.

Arizona had been so lost in the forceful and passionate kiss that for a second she'd forgotten all about the fact that Amelia had never slept with another woman, let alone one without a leg. Suddenly self-conscious, Arizona sat up too and reached for Amelia's hands, which were still on the waistband of her jeans.

"Hey," Arizona softly said, forcing Amelia to tear her eyes off the black lacy panties she could now tell the blonde was wearing.

"What? Did I- did I do something wrong?" Amelia nervously stammered, pulling her hands away protectively.

"No, it's just," Arizona quickly began, trying to calm the brunette and herself at the same time. "I only have one leg."

Amelia simply stared at her for what became an uncomfortable amount of time.

"I know?" Amelia finally said, completely lost as to what was happening and why the blonde had thought she hadn't known.

"No, I know you know. But there's knowing and then there's _knowing_. You know?"

"No?"

"Have you ever had sex with someone with one leg?" Arizona asked bluntly.

"Didn't realize we were going to be talking exes this soon," Amelia joked before realizing Arizona was serious. "No, I haven't. But I've seen a residual limb, Arizona. I am a doctor you know."

"Exactly. You've seen a residual limb. On a patient. You've seen someone who's lost their leg and it's been entirely clinical and completely un-sexy."

"Arizona. You're right. The 70 year old man who lost his leg from diabetes did absolutely nothing for me." Amelia began, gently cupping the blonde's face. "But you, you are so unbelievably sexy that if you don't shut up right now and let me take your pants off, I'm going to go crazy."

Lightly pushing the blonde back down, Amelia once again returned her hands to the waistband of Arizona's jeans and this time she succeeded in pulling them all the way off.

Lying there in just her underwear, Arizona could feel the other woman's eyes as they raked over her and she fought the urge to try and cover herself up.

Amelia slid Arizona's panties off before crawling back on top of the blonde, amazed at how much softer another woman's skin felt against her own. Men were hairy and rough and sharp angles. Arizona was soft and smooth and perfect.

"You are so freaking sexy," Amelia huskily whispered into the other woman's ear before gently biting Arizona's earlobe.

Goosebumps erupted across Arizona's skin as she turned her head to allow the brunette better access as Amelia began kissing and sucking down her neck.

Bringing her right hand up to cup Arizona's breast, Amelia kissed her way back to the blonde's mouth, nipping gently at the other woman's lower lip. Rolling the nipple between her fingers, she reveled in the way her gentle tweaks were causing Arizona to writhe beneath her. As she removed her hand, the blonde whimpered at the loss of contact until Amelia trailed her fingertips down Arizona's abdomen until she reached the small, neatly groomed patch of hair above the other woman's centre.

When Amelia paused, Arizona opened her eyes and looked up, catching the brunette's gaze. She raised her hand to cup Amelia's face and gently leaned up to kiss her.

"We can stop," Arizona assured her. Her clit was throbbing and it was taking everything she had not to thrust her hips upwards and meet Amelia's hand, but she would stop. She could stop. For Amelia.

"No," Amelia firmly replied, still not moving her hand. She continued staring deeply into the blonde's eyes for so long that Arizona went to speak again. Just as the blonde opened her mouth, Amelia quickly moved her hand an inch lower, stopping the words in Arizona's throat and causing her back to arch as the brunette deftly found her clit.

Seeing the instant effect she had on the blonde gave Amelia a newfound sense of confidence and she grinned, running one finger along Arizona's slit. As she felt how wet Arizona was, she couldn't help slipping a finger inside and delighting in the way the other woman's walls reflexively clenched around her at the sudden movement.

Slowly withdrawing, Amelia's finger easily glided back up to Arizona's clit and she began to circle it. At first her circles was big and slow but as the blonde's breathing began to quicken, her circles became smaller and faster as increased her pressure on the other woman's clit.

Replacing her finger with her thumb, she continued her movements as she quickly thrust her fingers into Arizona before withdrawing them again. She repeated this motion, thrusting her fingers in and out while continuing to circle the blonde's clit with her thumb over and over as Arizona met her rhythm and thrust up into her.

Arizona gave one last thrust upwards as she felt every muscle in her body clench with pleasure and she loudly moaned Amelia's name as her orgasm rippled through her entire body.

Amelia slowly removed her fingers as Arizona's muscles finally unclenched and her breathing returned to normal. As Amelia moved to roll off of her, Arizona grabbed the brunette's wrist and pulled her back down, bringing the fingers that were inside of her up to her lips, slowly licking them clean, tasting herself.

"You're a fast learner," Arizona quipped.

"I had an extraordinary teacher."


	8. Chapter 8

It was still pitch black outside when Arizona awoke to the sound of Amelia softly snoring next to her. Turning to face the brunette, she cuddled in closer and wondered what would have happened if Richard hadn't invited her to his birthday dinner.

When Amelia woke up mid-morning, naked and alone, she panicked. It wasn't the worst way she'd woken up in the morning but it still wasn't what she was expecting. Frantically searching the room for her clothes, she spotted them lying neatly folded on the dresser. She scrambled into them and sent up a silent prayer, to anyone who was listening, that DeLuca wouldn't be outside to see her walk of shame.

Putting on, what she hoped was, a brave face, Amelia opened the bedroom door only to find herself face to face with Arizona, who had been struggling with the door due to the tray of breakfast in her hands.

"Shit," Amelia yelped. "You scared me."

"You're leaving?" Arizona asked, taking in the sight of the fully dressed woman before her who was definitely about to sneak out.

"No! Well, I was because I thought you'd left me and I figured I should take the hint and get out," Amelia rambled, feeling very stupid all of a sudden.

"I was making breakfast," Arizona simply stated, glancing down at the tray in her hands for emphasis.

"I can see that, now."

"Did you want to get back into bed?"

Amelia simply slipped her jeans off again and sauntered back to the bed.

"Are you wearing my underwear?" Arizona asked, noticing her favourite black panties now covering the brunette's perfect ass.

"Oh," Amelia glanced down. "Sorry, there's just something about doing a walk of shame with no underwear on. It makes me feel twice as dirty."

"Maybe you should start wearing underwear," Arizona suggested, setting the tray on her bedside table before climbing in next to Amelia. "Or, stop doing the walk of shame?"

That earned her a playful slap from Amelia, who then reached across her and snagged a piece of toast from the tray.

"I'm starving," Amelia stated, taking a bite out of the toast.

"Well I've got plenty of things you can eat," Arizona said with a wink, before taking a piece of toast herself.

"Who would have thought the paeds surgeon was the dirty one in this relationship," Amelia mused, taking a plate of bacon and eggs, completely oblivious to the fact that Arizona had frozen mid-bite.

Arizona swallowed audibly, causing Amelia's head to snap up to look at her.

"What's wrong?" Amelia tentatively asked, trying to remember what she'd just said or done. "Oh god, I didn't mean it like that. I just– I like you, you like me. This isn't a relationship. This is just– This is– I'm sorry."

"I want to be in a relationship with you?" Arizona offered, hoping to at least stop the other woman from rambling.

"You do?"

"Of course I do. I like you Amelia. You're smart and funny and beautiful and great with kids. I want to at least try this out with you. If that's ok with you?"

"Yeah," Amelia whispered as she leant in to capture the blonde's lips in her own. "At least now we know what to tell everyone at work when the rumours start?"

"Are you sure you're ok with telling everyone?"

"Yeah. If they have a problem with it, that's their issue. I'm just not entirely sure what to say?"

"You can practice on DeLuca. I'm pretty sure after he caught us on the floor yesterday, it won't be much of a surprise," Arizona joked, putting aside their half eaten food so that she could make love to her girlfriend without getting egg all over her sheets.

"DeLuca, come here," Arizona called out from the kitchen. Moments later a very tired looking DeLuca stumbled out from his bedroom, rubbing his eyes and mumbling something about how she wasn't his boss here. Stopping in front of the two women, he yawned widely and simply stared at them, waiting to find out why they were ruining his first chance for a sleep-in in months.

Arizona nudged Amelia. DeLuca had never seen the neurosurgeon looking anything but in complete control. He wasn't sure how he felt about the look of fear he seemed to be inciting in her.

"We're dating," Amelia blurted out so quickly that it took DeLuca a second to work out what she'd actually said.

"Oh, ok," DeLuca simply replied, glancing back at Arizona who gestured for him to leave them again. He slouched back to his room, already half asleep before his head hit the pillow.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Arizona said with a smile and turned to face Amelia who was still staring at the spot where DeLuca's head had been.

"He's a half-asleep intern who already lives with a lesbian. Of course he's ok with it! How am I supposed to tell the fully-awake attendings I work with about us?" Amelia rambled, freaking out at the thought of it.

"Hey, you're ok. It'll be ok," Arizona reassured her, opening her arms and letting Amelia fall into them. "I'll be right there to hold your hand."

"Can you just hold my hand all day? That way everyone will work it out and we don't have to tell anyone," Amelia mumbled into Arizona's shoulder.

"In my experience, it's better to tell people rather than let them overhear some gossipy interns in the hallway."

"Fine. But I still want you there, holding my hand."

"Deal."


	9. Chapter 9

On Monday morning, Amelia finds herself outside staring up at the hospital, trying to decide if the nauseous feeling in her stomach is just nerves or if she's actually going to be sick. Just as she begins to consider calling in sick, a hand slips into hers and she is being pulled into the hospital.

"I told you I'd hold your hand," Arizona reminded her, pulling them towards the coffee cart. "You look tired. Beautiful. But tired."

"I couldn't sleep," Amelia replied, glancing around them as Arizona ordered.

"It will be fine. What happened to the badass neurosurgeon who wouldn't take no for an answer and stood up to everyone?" Arizona asked, trying to distract the brunette and hopefully make her feel slightly more confident.

"Yeah, you missed the part where I freaked out in the actual surgery," Amelia quipped, her heart racing as she saw Maggie approaching them. Panicking, she dropped Arizona's hand and pretended she needed both hands to take the coffee the barista had just finished making.

Arizona wasn't surprised when Amelia panicked and she made a mental reminder to herself to tell her girlfriend just how adorable she looked when she was panicking.

"Hey guys," Maggie said, completely oblivious. "You were gone early this morning, Amelia."

"Uh, yeah," Amelia said as she busied herself with double-checking the lid to her coffee was on properly. "I, uh, I couldn't sleep."

"Oh. Big surgery today?" Maggie asked.

"No. Just clipping an aneurysm. It wasn't work that kept me up. I was–" Amelia began before Maggie cut her off.

"Oh! You were with Owen? Because I did not hear a thing. And those walls are so thin, so normally I need ear plugs, but I slept right through! So well done, I guess? Are you two finally sorting stuff out?" Maggie rambled, failing to notice the wide-eyed stare that Amelia was giving her in an effort to get her to stop. Her obliviousness to everything was actually ridiculous. Amelia hadn't gone into specifics about her break-up with Owen but he hadn't been over in more than a month and she had asked Maggie to help her avoid him on numerous occasions.

"No. Owen and I are history. I, uh, I need to tell you something and it's important so I need you to just not talk, ok?" Amelia asked, waiting for Maggie to nod in agreement before glancing at Arizona who gave her a reassuring smile.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia slipped her hand into Arizona's once more before she spoke.

"Arizona and I are dating."

It was short and simple and sure, she probably spoke a little faster than normal but it was a lot better than telling DeLuca.

Maggie looked from Amelia to Arizona, then down to their hands and back up. Suddenly, she lunged forward and enveloped the couple in a hug, nearly knocking their coffees out of their hands.

"I am so happy for you guys!" Maggie said a little too loudly. "When did this happen? Is that why Arizona came to Richard's birthday dinner? I didn't even know you were into women! Oh my god, so you were going on a date on Saturday!"

Amelia was already feeling overwhelmed by all of the questions and was actually sort of glad that Maggie's excitement had attracted the attention of April and Jackson. They simply smiled at them and Jackson mouthed 'congratulations' before they continued walking. Two less people to tell sounded brilliant if it meant less questions and hugging.

"It's new. And we haven't really told many people yet. So if you could keep it to yourself at least until the end of the day, that would be great," Arizona said, giving Maggie her warmest smile before pulling her girlfriend off and into the nearest supply closet.

"She was intense," Amelia said, still somewhat in shock. Maggie could definitely be a whirlwind sometimes.

"Yeah. But you did great!" Arizona assured her before pulling her in for a hug and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Can we just hide out in here for the rest of the day?" Amelia asked, only half joking.

"As much as I would like to spend the rest of the day hiding in here with you, we both have surgeries. Plus, I really don't trust Maggie to keep her mouth shut past lunchtime and I think Callie would rather hear this from me," Arizona said. "Plus, I really think Richard would appreciate knowing how good his wingman skills are."

"Huh?"

"Oh, you didn't realize? I'm pretty sure the entire reason he invited me to dinner was to set me up with you."

"What?" Amelia asked, although things were starting to click into place.

"You didn't think the way him and Catherine talked about us non-stop and asked all those questions was a bit suspicious?"

"Oh my god."

"Yeah," Arizona simply said, taking a sip of her coffee as the brunette ran over the whole dinner party in her head. "I'm kind of glad he did though."

"Me too," Amelia agreed. "I say we go and let him know the good news then."

Arizona laughed as she followed her girlfriend out of the supply closet and off in search of Dr. Webber.

"Richard," Amelia called out, finally finding him standing amongst a group of interns, relaying a story from his own time as an intern. "We need to talk."

Her voice wasn't angry but she spoke with enough force that he quickly excused himself and followed her and Arizona into an empty patient room.

"Good morning, ladies," he greeted with a smile as the women both turned to face him.

"Did you even have termites?" Amelia asked bluntly. Richard hadn't expected that particular question and at first he stood there blankly before remembering that that was his excuse for coming to stay with Meredith the week before. Unfortunately for him, he took too long to wrap his head around the situation and his silence only affirmed what Amelia suspected. "You liar."

"I did have termites," Richard said weakly. "A few years ago. I just– I had my reasons."

"Did your 'reasons' involve trying to set us up?" Amelia asked, gesturing between herself and Arizona.

"What on Earth would make you say that?" Richard responded, avoiding answering the question.

"Well, for one, that dinner party was ridiculous," Amelia began. "And two, it worked."

Amelia once again glanced over at her girlfriend and took her hand before turning back to Richard.

"You mean you two are actually dating now?" Richard asked and when the women nodded in reply, his face broke into a wide grin.

He always knew he was the ultimate wingman.


	10. Chapter 10

Arizona had been right. Maggie couldn't keep her mouth shut past lunch time. In fact, it was while most of the attendings were at lunch that she finally broke.

Arizona and Amelia were sitting together at a table, quietly going over the list of people they had told and still needed to tell. At the top of the latter list was Callie. Arizona figured she should be the one to tell her ex-wife and she was quietly enjoying the fact that it really couldn't go over worse than the first time they'd all met Penny.

Glancing towards the entrance to the cafeteria, Arizona spotted Callie who immediately joined the queue, looking hungrily over all the options.

Looking back to her girlfriend, Arizona decided there was no time like the present and began to stand.

"I suppose I better get this over and done with," the blonde sighed, but as she glanced back to the queue, she realized Maggie was right behind Callie. As she watched the cardio surgeon chatter away, she sent up a silent prayer that it was work related. When Callie turned around sharply and after searching the cafeteria, her eyes fell on Arizona who was still somewhere halfway between sitting and standing.

"Shit," Amelia softly swore, placing her hand over Arizona's, which was firmly gripping the table. "I will kill, Maggie."

Arizona slumped back down into her chair. This was not going to plan at all.

Callie finished getting her food before she made her way over to where the couple were sitting, walking straight past her own girlfriend to get to them.

"You two are dating?" Callie asked, standing in front of them, hands clenched around her tray.

"Yes," Arizona replied softly, completely confused as to why Callie seemed to be so angry. After all, no one had sung higher praises of Penny at that dinner party than Arizona had. Well, until they all found out about her role in Derek's death.

"When were you going to tell me?" Callie demanded.

"Right now, actually. If someone had of kept their mouth shut," Arizona replied, shooting a glare across the room at the back of Maggie's head.

"How long?" Callie asked, softening slightly.

"It's all really new, Callie. You know how fast rumours fly around this place. We just wanted to get on top of it all right from the start," Arizona said, trying to reassure her ex-wife. She knew Callie was already wondering if she had cheated with Amelia too.

"Ok," Callie said, still trying to process everything. She took a deep breath and finally looked at Amelia, who actually looked kind of scared of her for once. Suddenly, she felt bad for being so angry about it all. Why shouldn't Arizona be happy?

With that, Callie turned and headed back to sit with her own girlfriend, throwing a casual "congratulations" over her shoulder.

"That wasn't _so_ bad," Arizona said as she watched her ex-wife retreat.

"I'm still going to kill Maggie," Amelia grumbled as she stole a fry off of Arizona's tray.

After the stress of the day, Amelia wanted nothing more than to go home, change into sweatpants, eat takeout and just generally not have everyone's eyes on her anymore. Arizona had taken her hand as they exited the elevator and headed straight to her own car, opening the passenger door and waiting for Amelia to get herself settled.

"So chivalrous," Amelia complimented jokingly, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Arizona smiled to herself as she closed the door and headed around to the driver's seat, wondering how she got so lucky.

They drove in silence, Amelia drifting in and out of sleep and Arizona feeling content to glance across at the brunette's peaceful face every chance she got. After a brief stop to pick up Chinese food, they made it back to Amelia's house but before Amelia had even turned her key in the lock, they heard Maggie inside chattering away about them to Meredith.

"Why don't we eat out here?" Arizona suggested, sensing Amelia's hesitancy to go in and face the gossip she had thought would be left behind at the hospital.

Grateful for the chance to avoid her 'sisters' for a little while longer, Amelia followed Arizona to sit on the porch swing, taking the take out box the blonde offered to her.

"Thank you," Amelia said, looking deep into Arizona's eyes. "You know me too well."

"No, I'm good at reading people. Paeds is all about reading the tiny humans. But I can't wait to know everything about you," Arizona replied, leaning across to capture her girlfriend's lips in a soft kiss. "Now eat up before it gets cold."

Amelia sat back on the swing; eating her takeout and feeling like she could finally relax. She smiled to herself as she thought that Arizona had finally worked out how to tame Hurricane Amelia.


End file.
